In a post that I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that Maryland’s incumbent Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich was spotted trying to drum up Indian American votes (for his re-election) at an India Republic Day event in Greenbelt, MD. Politicians usually get a free pass at these functions. The star-struck desi uncles that play host, mostly just want their pictures taken with the candidate so that they can brag about how successful they are. Thankfully, we have dedicated South Asian journalists to report on the real policy issues that interest you and I. Rediff-India Abroad reports:
In an exclusive interview with rediff-India Abroad Managing Editor Aziz Haniffa, [Ehrlich] acknowledges that the catalytic contributions of the Indian American community were a major boon to the burgeoning economy of the state.Ehrlich, who has never visited India but plans to do so soon, said he was elated over the transformed US-India relationship. “As India becomes and assumes more of a world power status, it’s incumbent upon both countries to not just re-establish, but increase levels of cooperation,” he said.
Well…I suppose getting the “Have you ever been to India?” question out of the way is okay, as long as he additionally asks some tough policy questions. After all, the whole PURPOSE of interviewing Ehrlich should be to highlight his stance on key issues that affect Indian-Americans voters in Maryland. Here are some of the questions:
- One of your most senior aides, Dilip Paliath, has announced his candidacy to run for the legislative assembly from District 42 and you have, I believe, endorsed him. My question is, will you be on the stump for him at some of his campaign stops?
- And you believe Dilip is a winning candidate?
- What would you say to the Indian American community in supporting Dilip and any other young candidates who may come along? The so-called leaders of the community have this insatiable propensity for photo-ops, contribute handsomely to their campaigns, but when it comes to someone running for public office, it’s almost impossible to convince them to put their money where their mouth is.
- Dilip serves in a senior position in your administration but there aren’t any other Indian Americans in cabinet-level positions in your administration. Several governors I’ve interviewed always say they would love to have some of the qualified Indian Americans in their administration but many of them make so much money in the private sector that it’s hard to coax them to serve in the public sector. Have you faced the same problem?
- Have you been to India, and if not, do you intend to visit India soon? [Link]
So let me summarize what has just happened here. Rediff-India Abroad is giving the Republican Governor free publicity, which will translate to at least a few more votes on election day, and all they really want to know in return is what Ehrlich thinks of Dilip Paliath, and whether or not any more brown folks might serve in Ehrlich’s second administration. This is exactly the reason why I blog on SM and why Rediff-India Abroad is useless to my demographic. I don’t f*cking care what Ehrlich thinks about Paliath. I want to know how his policies will affect Indian-Americans if he is elected to another term. Ehrlich did throw a few bones to Rediff-India Abroad:
Q: And when you do go [to India], will you in lead an essentially trade delegation comprising Indian American entrepreneurs too?
A: That’s what it would be. As Governor, unlike Congressmen, my foreign trips are almost solely devoted to trade. Eighty-five to 90 percent of the discussions, and really the purpose of such trips are trade — bilateral relationships and trade between the state of Maryland and a particular country…Q: But where do you stand on [the outsourcing] issue, if it once again becomes a major contentious political issue?
A: Obviously, businesses, particularly public-held companies have a fiduciary duty to their stockholders. So companies are going to tend to maximize their profits and they are going to continue to do it. So I think it’s a mix – not every company can or should do it (outsourcing). It may work for one business model for one company and not for another. I believe that the legislatures and the Congress are going to be resistant generally to interfering with the marketplace…Q: Are you for much more professionals and students to come to the US to work and study, and perhaps stay on as legal immigrants and become part of the American workforce? Would you support an influx of such workers and students from countries like India?
A: As cliché-ish as you can be – and clichés often have a degree of truth – the United States is a nation of immigrants. And to the extent that anybody wants to come here, study, learn American culture, comes to appreciate and want to be part of it, I obviously want to encourage it. I believe it’s a good thing. America is strong because as I said, it represents diversity. [Link]
These questions just drive home the fact that Rediff-India Abroad’s target audience is first generation Indian Americans and Indians back in India, and that there is a large vacuum when it comes to reporters covering second generation interests. What do I mean? Well let’s look and see what Ehrlich’s Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele was saying on the very same day that Rediff-India Abroad published its interview:
Discussing his position on embryonic stem cell research with Baltimore Jewish leaders yesterday, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele said he is “concerned about the destruction of human life” and made a comparison between the controversial science and experiments done on Jews during the Holocaust.
“You of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool,” said Steele, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, to a crowd of about 40 at a Baltimore Jewish Council board meeting. “I know that as well in my community, out of our experience with slavery, and so I’m very cautious when people say this is the best new thing, this is going to save lives…”<
p>”If the lieutenant governor was drawing a comparison between stem cell research and human medical experimentation during the Holocaust, he must understand the pain this kind of analogy would inflict on survivors and their families,” Art Abramson, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council, said in a statement to The Sun. “We absolutely reject any comparisons between ethical and lifesaving medical research, and the horrors committed by the Nazis in their evil drive to create a master race. We welcome any clarification Lt. Gov. Steele can offer about his remarks…” [Link]
Now HERE is an Indian American issue. Given the number of medical professionals in the Indian American community, and the fact that many campaign contributions come from rich doctors, shouldn’t Rediff-India Abroad have been asking Ehrlich to clarify his stance on stem-cell research (which has been a long-standing issue) instead of spending half the interview talking about Dilip Paliath? Maryland is known for its biotech industry, especially along the I-270 tech corridor which is home to many Indian American-owned or -managed companies. This is another one of my examples of a main-stream issue that should also be an issue that the South Asian community embraces as one of its own.
Now that Rediff-India Abroad has given the incumbent free publicity, I would like to see them interview his opponent, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley. A newspaper/newsmagazine should be there to provide balanced coverage of the issues so that its readers can make decisions based on all the facts, and not just based on how many brown people serve in the incumbent’s administration. I know that maybe I sound overly harsh, but this interview read more like a celebrity interview to me.
Good post.
Sigh. Yet another infomercial masquerading as journalism from Aziz Haniffa. About par for the course, unfortunately….
This is true, they are catering to the audience who read Rediff-India Abroad and because Rediff-India Abroad is not Alhurra. They are a publicly traded entity REDF and accountable to their share holders (Rediff is an Indian company, its traded in USA as an ADR). I would be very interested in finding out how many second-gens know about Rediff-India Abroad and how many have read it even once.
The desi (Indian) physicians who landed in USA in ’60-75 have remained insular and exclusive group. I call them ingrates and selfish bunch of bastards. The institutions that trained them for the skills that bring them big-time moolah in USA are/were publicly subsidized Medical colleges of India and yet their affiliation (if at all) to anything Indian (outside their own family) is limited to Temple/Gurudwara/Church/Masque where they are trustees ‘coz they made a $XXXXXXX donation. If Indian-American uncles were serious about Indian-American issues they could have had their own publication which would comment on stem-cell research and whether TGA is right in opining on ADHD drugs. In that discussion with Baltimore Jewish leaders, the fact that `Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele’ felt persuaded to make ‘Holocaust’ remark underscores the success of Jewish communities in pushing their agenda. I think Indian-Americans can learn a lot from the cohesive front that is presented by the Jews in almost any issue that is considered Jewish.
IMHO, Indian-American physicians and professionals should have an unequivocal voice in the strong stem-cell research debate, but it should not be embraced as one of its own AND I hope Dilip Paliath is not another Bobby Jindal :).
please read …should have a strong and unequivocal voice in the stem-cell research debate…
As Governor, unlike Congressmen, my foreign trips are almost solely devoted to trade. Eighty-five to 90 percent of the discussions, and really the purpose of such trips are trade — bilateral relationships and trade between the state of Maryland and a particular country…
I hope Ehrlich was referring to bilateral trade relationship. The sentence gives the impression that according to Ehrlich, Governors conduct bilateral relationships and trade relationships with foreign nations. I know Republicans love state rights, but this would be unconstitutional.
A bit off topic, sorry….But [comment spam deleted by Admin.]
Only “a bit” off topic?
I guess Indian rock did not really appeal to most of the general population beyond a specific niche. Rock in the US is a natural evolution of several historical musical genres, there’s no such historical path in India. For rock to succeed in India, it would have to be ‘indianized’ and actually get in touch with the population, aka Latin rock. They’d have to offer something that American rock bands would/could not. When I was attending college festivals in the late 90’s rock bands performing would be expected to perform more Nirvana or Queen than their own originals.
I had a discussion with an American friend (who’s a big-time rock aficianado) about this, and our theory was that India would simply skip the rock phase entirely and go straight to hip-hop or more contemporary genres, since they are far more amenable to be desified.
Anyway, sorry for encouraging the ‘off-topic’ discussion, I thought this topic was far more interesting than the political machinations of desi uncles.
among second genners, we have diverse opinions. i do think a certain segment of the second generation is not as well represented by older publications. but we have Sepia Mutiny, Little India…other forums. Its something definately needed, but I doubt we’re going to see it from a generation with frankly different concerns. Given that, not all uncles are a certain way either. there’s quite a few who do care about giving back and care about wide-ranging issues. When “we” get into trouble is when we have only one or two outlets that represent us
Wow, now I’m hella curious what this off the topic discussion was all about.
I would be very interested in finding out how many second-gens know about Rediff-India Abroad and how many have read it even once.
I’d be surprised if most of us haven’t at least scanned it for event listings. I mean, it sits at the check out stand at almost any Indian grocery store. At Vik’s they practically give it away.
Which, you know, might be why it caters to 1st generation. .forget the readership, the advertiser base is probably overwhelmingly first generation. I can’t really see Manish or Vinod taking out adverts for Anaconia or Roundbox in India Abroad.
On another slight tangent, I have to say I went–totally by accident, and not for a particularly desi reason–the a fabulous desi event on Thursday night. I was meeting someone for work, but he happened to ask me to meet him at benefit by Creative Atma for Future Families of the Bay Area. I was wowed by this event on multiple levels–
1) Everyone was charming and friendly. 2) There was a great mix of people–it wasn’t all desi by a long shot, despite having desi organizers, a desi tinge, and even quite a bit of desi music. There were plenty of other ethnicities who were totally involved with the festivities, and everyone was mingling. Non-balkanization. One of the things that always scared me away from desi parties in college was the uniform browness of them. I get spooked by uniform anything. So it was nice to see a group with a definite desi flavor still being totally welcoming and integrated. 3) Last but most–what a great cause. I mean, seriously, what a fantastically wonderful cause. When I think about orphans and homeless children–and the fact that they still have a hard time finding homes in our wealthy, progressive society–it’s just heart-rending. A great, local charity that’s doing valuable work everyone can get behind.
To me this seemed like an idealized version of what second generation politics can be about. (Actually, though, it seems like plenty of the participants were 20-something first generations. More power to them!) 1)Let’s leverage our social network–which is undoubtedly going to have a strong ethnic component. 2) Let’s leverage our cultural capital–which is undoubtedly going to have a strong ethnic component. 3) Let’s leverage those touchstones of idealism that inform our character–which will undoubtedly have a strong ethnic component.
4) Let’s not be afraid–be proud and determined even–to bring those ethnic components to the table along with all the rest of what’s gone into making us us.
But let’s not ignore all the other stuff–the influences of our friends and neighbors and teachers, the interests that have less to do with us as desis and more to do with us as human beings or even just Americans–that’s not desi, and let’s be thrilled to have everyone else at the table to. And let’s bring that all to a table of issues that’s universal, as well.
Just sayin’, I’d like to see more of this. And people who have Valentines might want to get some last minute shopping done at the Creative Atma website.
Since the desi population is so spread out in the states, how do people try to get the desi vote therre
Here in Vancouver area every non-desi person running for office has to go the sikh temples/ and punjabi socials events to get votes. And more times then not they are dressed in indian dresses and suits just to impress the desi’s here. This does do anything for me.
as for post #8 Maybe the people in india need to know about Kim Thayil and Tony Kanal. Unless I’m wrong they are the 2 most succesful desi’s in the west when it comes to album sales[20 millions + for both]. Alot more then idiot’s like Jazzy B
The star-struck desi uncles that play host, mostly just want their pictures taken with the candidate so that they can brag about how successful they are.
I dont think these desi uncles are necessarily apolitical, narrow minded (selfish) or apathetic about substantive issues. If they were in India, they might behave like completely different political creatures.
They dont particularly care about the politics of these candidates because they don’t consider themselves to be a part of the political process, though they might have a vote. So they resort to ethnocentric politics and usually disregard the political orientation of the candidate as long as he is Indian/Indian origin. In the ‘us’ versus ‘them’ world, the ‘us’ is the only thing that matters. There is a presumption that any ‘us’ will be better for Indians than any ‘them’. I dont agree with the presumption, but thats the most prevalent view in the uncle community.
This is exactly my point. It facilitates in planning out weekends and evenings, and they give it away at Vik’s, good for you. From Abhi’s post I gathered he was looking for a serious reportage on issue relating to second-gen Indian-Americans. As for Vinod and Manish, only they could comment what their advertising budget and marketing strategy is.
Yep. In my observation many of these “community” leaders are handicapped by the baggage that they bring from India like caste, religion and region ( the “Which part of India are you from ?” uncle ). They are deeply skeptical and chary of anything having to do with politics (Indian politics can do that to you) and generally not that concerned about the “issues” that a candidate is addressing. In general the involvement is superficial like photo-ops and that too because thatÂ’s what their amrikkan colleagues do.
I actually do read the print version of India Abroad from time to time and think that it has improved a great deal in some ways — some of its stories are quite interesting. Not all the time, mind you, but the magazine section, in particular, does have interesting features on arts, new books, social issues facing the community, and the like. Much better than it used to be.
All of that having been said, however, the week-to-week political coverage remains breathtakingly amateurish. Some of their stories certainly fill a niche by reporting on things that other publications may not cover, but without a whole lot of journalistic sophistication or professionalism. And given how bad the coverage can be, they are embarassingly self-congratulatory at times. When India Abroad published interviews in 2004 with George Bush and John Kerry, the paper made itself a bigger story than many of the substantive things that either candidate had to say — there were separate articles on “how we got the interview” and at least with the Bush interview, a nice, big photograph of the interviewer with George Bush himself, just like the photos that get taken at campaign fundraisers. In the article accompanying the Bush interview, as I recall, they even suggested that whether Kerry would agree to a similar interview was a serious issue that Indian American voters should consider when deciding who to vote for.
Just last week, India Abroad suggested that Samuel Alito was the first Supreme Court justice with an “Indian connection” because one of the paper’s editors met with Alito in 1988, when he was US Attorney, in connection with some extradition proceeding that his office was prosecuting involving two suspects in a political assassination who the government of India wanted extradited to face criminal charges in India. Complete with a scanned image of Alito’s US Attorney business card. I wish I were making this up, but I promise you, it’s right there on page A5 of the February 10, 2006 issue. Does it get any more embarassing than this?
(The wacky Alito comment is particularly narcissistic and ridiculous. Supreme Court justices have had “Indian connections” at least since 1923, when nine of them unanimously held that natives of the Indian subcontinent were not “white” and therefore were ineligible to naturalize as U.S. citizens. Not to mention their judicial clerks, Abhi’s post being only the most recent reminder, and the meetings and dialogues that Justices Breyer and O’Connor have had from time to time with judges from India and other countries. And on and on and on….)
More disturbing than any of that, every now and then, I look at the paper and find several stories that sound suspiciously like they must be derivative of things I read on Sepia Mutiny the week before, but without attribution. Hmmmm….
You think? I’m shocked. Shocked I tell you!
I’m willing to believe that this is probably true. I like to pick on their political coverage which is most important to me.
Exactly! This is what really bugs me. They are so shocked that they actually got an interview, that being a journalist and reporting a story becomes of secondary importance. Even the begining of this article seems to suggest this shock. Rediff-India Abroad’s political coverage during the 2004 election (or the lack of it) is partly why we created SM in the first place. If all goes well then we will have bloggers on the convention floor right next to Rediff’s journalists in 2008.
🙂 I remember one post post that got into a Desi publication almost verbatim (don’t remember which one).
So, is there a market for a publication that is directed at super-thin vertical of second-genners.
Tom, let’s create such a
mutinymarket.Conventional wisdom is a second-gen mag won’t do well unless it’s a Cosmo clone. Several people are busy trying to prove the CW wrong. Personally I’m much happier with the speed and interactiveness of a blog.
Doing it from scratch will be quixotic. IMHO the
mutinymarket can be cultivated by contributing to Rediff-India Abroad. Mutnineers can prop that rag up with intellectual content.Abhi fixes the editorials Mahish gets the Op-Eds Anna does the “page six” Vinod business. […]
And the perception of anonymity for commentators :). If “they” ever found out what I have been doing while I have been “billable”.
As for Vinod and Manish, only they could comment what their advertising budget and marketing strategy is.
Chill out Tom, I was just making a guess. That’s why I said, “I can’t really see it.” Maybe it’s possible, I just don’t see it happening. I wasn’t particularly disagreeing with you, just making a more narrow case for the same phenomena.
I think your post is potentially misleading. One of the most criteria in predicting future election success is past performance. Four years ago, Dilip came in fifth (5th) even though he spent the most money.